When Richard Nixon lost the race for the governorship of California in 1962, he famously held a press conference and told reporters, “Just think how much you're going to be missing. You don’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.”

Stern has been undeniably successful in his role over what will be 30 years (to the day) when he quits, and despite those successes, he has been kicked around a fair bit. And, according to him, even after he hands off control of the league to deputy Adam Silver 15 months from now, Stern intends to stay connected with the league he helped guide to its current perch.

“For myself, I have agreed at the request of the board to make some time available after I leave the NBA, move out of the office completely, but wherever I am, I will be available for some assignments to be directed by the board or by Adam particularly in the international area where I have some experience,” Stern said. “In the next 15 months, we are going to work together on the most seamless executive CEO transition that we hope will serve as an example for all business, not just sports leagues.”

In speaking about his departure, Stern was careful not to get into his legacy—in fact, he specifically pointed out that he would do no such thing, other than to acknowledge that he had seen both good times and bad over his tenure. “I’m not a big believer in the ‘L word,’ legacy,” Stern said. “I just want people to say that he steered the Good Ship NBA through all kinds of interesting times, some choppy waters, some extraordinary opportunities, and managed to on his watch, the league grew in popularity, became a global phenomenon, and the owners and the players and the fans did very well.”

But what that overlooks is that Stern will spend the next year-and-a-quarter finishing a task that he has been working on for years now—ensuring that Silver is up to the job. When rattling off the accomplishments and failures of Stern as commissioner, the grooming of Silver should not be overlooked. As much as Stern has been lampooned for his heavy-handed, dictatorial style, he has allowed his ego some respite over the last few years to make way for Silver, and that will ensure that, when the transition happens, Silver will have gotten more extensive on-the-job training than any league honcho in American sports.

“Adam was a no-brainer,” new Board of Governors head Peter Holt said. “The point I’m making, he’s been there over 20 years, he has been a huge part of what the NBA has become, he has been involved in every aspect of the NBA, and we want to continue that. We think continuity, particularly at this time, for the NBA and probably sports in general around the world because of the way it's growing around the world, is paramount, and Adam is the man that can do it. So all 30 owners were absolutely in agreement. ... We love David, and the timing gives the transformation from David to Adam smoothness to it that we want to continue.”

We still don’t know what Silver will be like as a commissioner. Even as he has become a more public figure—he often took the lead at press conferences during the lockout—Silver has remained in Stern’s shadow.

But where Stern’s sarcasm and dry wit was often taken as arrogance, Silver is more straightforward and deals well with the media and fans.

Stern has done his best to keep up with developments in technology, but Silver has a better grasp of where those developments might lead to opportunities for the league, and how they can make the game more accessible to fans. Stern won’t disappear entirely, and some of Stern’s style will come through with Silver, but Silver will be a different, more amiable commissioner than Stern was.

But first he will have Stern in his ear for 15 more months. And that’s a credit to Stern himself—when doing the math on Stern’s positives and negatives, the job he has done in picking Silver and getting him ready to take over should be counted as a significant plus.